The Building Tradesman Newspaper

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The "Do-Nothing Congress" has generally earned its nickname over the past several years. But when it comes to throwing a lifeline to the nation's struggling pension plans, a few things are getting done. ..

Editor's note: On May 6, 2016, a U.S. Treasury Department mediator rejected a huge proposed cut in retirement payouts for hundreds of thousands of workers tied to the woefully underfunded Teamsters Central States Pension Fund. The decision by mediator Kenneth Feinberg temporarily put a stop to plans to cut the fund's pension payouts ranging anywhere from the average of 23 percent all the way up to 90 percent. ..

LANSING –Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette (R) on Sept. 15 signed onto a lawsuit with 21 states to stop the Obama Administration’s new overtime rule, which would extend mandatory overtime pay to 100,000 Michigan workers. Schuette putting his name on the document was a move blasted by the Michigan AFL-CIO ..

Michigan, for one month anyway, got its construction mojo back. Long-term, though, construction employment in our state, and elsewhere, remains middling, although a positive change could be around the corner. ..

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. House of Representatives on Sept. 28 by a vote of 399-25, passed H.R. 5303, the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), which includes an amendment to authorize $170 million to repair water infrastructure in Flint. WRDA provides authorization to fund water infrastructure projects across the country. The amendment was offered by congressmen Dan Kildee (D-Flint) and John Moolenaar (R-Midland). ..